


Three Golden Goddesses

by twob1rds



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Canon Compliant, Creation Myth, Creation of Hyrule, Gods, Implied Zelink, Kass tells a story, Kingdom of Hyrule, Link speaks to a dragon, One Shot, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), kind of? im good at mostly being canon complian, the golden goddesses - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 23:05:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19799611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twob1rds/pseuds/twob1rds
Summary: Once upon a time, long, long ago, three golden goddesses descended upon the great chaos of the void. Where they came from, it was hardly known, ancient primordial beings that existed far outside of time and space. But when they left, they left behind the most powerful and sacred of objects, a triforce seated in the sacred realm. This sacred realm became a part of the world they created, in a blessed land named Hyrule. The triforce now is long lost to history, its pieces said to have been scattered across time. Some say the fragments reside within the chosen heroes of old...Link learns of the creation of Hyrule, and talks to a dragon as old as time.





	Three Golden Goddesses

_Once upon a time, long, long ago, three golden goddesses descended upon the great chaos of the void._

_Din, with her powerful flaming arms, red and burning, swept through the void. She created land when there was none, great canyons, mountains full of lava and rock, her fire ripping through the void itself. She shaped the world as we now know it, prodding the landscape to life. Fire can destroy as much as it can give life, and Din was aware of her powers of creation. She created great seas (though they had yet to be filled with water), and great deserts, blessing the sands as her favorite of all. For even in the desert, while the sun beats hot against the sands, life can still bloom. With a sweep of her arms, she laid the groundwork for the world. She forged hills and valleys, intricate landscapes made of red earth and love. For this creation, this land, was a labor of nothing but love for the world to be. This is how the goddesses’ domain was first forged. When her work was finished, she looked to her sisters._

_“Do you see what I have sculpted for us?”_

_Nayru stepped forward, golden blue and soft, her form rippling like water. “Aye, sister, now let us fill your earth with order and law.”_

_Nayru expanded across the land, pouring her wisdom into the shapes that Din had formed. The realm was suddenly illuminated, warm sunlight beating down upon the rocks. Empty basins turned into seas, canyons turning into great rivers, her golden arms forming the clouds and weather that pushed the land forward. She instilled gravity, physics, the flow of waterfalls and the churning of the tides. Into this world, she instilled order from the chaos, wisdom to the rocks and stones themselves. Even without sentience, the great earth spread out underneath them knew the structure in which it operated. The moving of plates and the flow of the core within. Everything had its place, everything had its law. She loved the rivers most of all, the way they flowed from the mountains into the great seas, how they curved and turned with intricate design. When her work was finished, she looked down upon the world knew it was good._

_She stared at her sisters, “I have filled the world with wisdom where chaos used to reign.”_

_“Yes, my sister, and now let me fill it with life to uphold that wisdom.” Farore stepped forward, glimmering golden green, with her voice dancing on the wind._

_Farore had a gentler touch, and she took far longer to form the life within that world. Great trees sprouted from the winds she blew, the land growing lush and green as she walked across the surface. She filled the seas and the forests, birds flying high in the sky and fish diving deep below. In Din’s beloved desert, she gave life to a people in her image, tall and proud, sculpted from the sands themselves. She provided plants and animals hardy enough to survive the desert storms, the oases scatted across the desert filled with life and sustenance. They would survive well even in the harsh heat. In Nayru’s rivers, she formed a race in her image, flowing smoothly through the water with grace and beauty. She ensured they would have fish to eat and beaches filled with trees and beings for them to enjoy, sea birds to sing throughout the skies. They began to raise their voices to answer the birds calls. In the forest, she formed a race in her own image, protectors of life and magic, fairies and wise old trees. Small in stature, but cunning and courageous, she provided trees for them to live amongst, and great Deku trees to guide them. Wild animals and ghouls as well, it was important to keep the livelihood of the forest protected from unwanted visitors, to avoid the harvest of precious magic she gifts upon them. On the tops of the mountains, she formed a race bathed in the spirits of rock and fire, hardy and loud. They would watch the mountain, and eat from the rocks and stones themselves, for only they could sustain themselves off the heat. Finally, in the center of the land, she formed a race out of clay and soil. Strong and wise, they would be the keepers of the most ancient of magic. The most instrumental in upholding the rule of the law. They, however, would be wily and unpredictable, and their fate would always be entwined with the story of the gods. When her work was finished, she looked up to the sky and knew it was time to leave._

_“There is life and love in this place, once born of chaos and now teeming with our blessings.”_

_“Then, let us go.”_

_Where they came from, it was hardly known, ancient primordial beings that existed far outside of time and space. But when they left, they left behind the most powerful and sacred of objects, a triforce seated in the sacred realm. This sacred realm became a part of the world they created, in a blessed land named Hyrule. The triforce now is long lost to history, its pieces said to have been scattered across time. Some say the fragments reside within the chosen heroes of old..._

It was the first-time Link hears the story, or at least, so far as he could remember (which meant nothing). The most he knew about the gods was the tales of the goddess Hylia, her never-ending entwinement with Zelda and himself. Stretching as far back as the era of the sky, or so he remembered. What did Zelda once say? The memory flashed briefly throughout his mind; him kneeling before her as she spoke of the past, their past. 

_“Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight…_

_The sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the Hero.”_

She had always sounded so sad, recounting their souls’ shared history. 

Kass was kind enough to share the tale with him, and Link expressed his gratitude. He had always wanted to know of what they believed in in the Before, instead of the After. Besides the tales of the goddess Hylia, not much remained of their history. Lost in the ruins of a battle that’s raged for 100 years, most of beings in the land scattered and fractured. Perhaps, the Sheikah and Zora would be the only to remember, though Link doubted they would share it with the outside world. The Zora hardly gave information to Hylians and outsiders. And Impa kept her secrets close to her chest as well, concerned only with the survival of the princess and the defeat of the calamity. He often wondered if she would tell him about anything not pertaining to his quest. 

_“Come along dear, that’s for after. Focus on the now.”_

He could hear her voice speaking the words, and he slowly shook the thought out of his head. Link stayed seated for a little while longer next to Kass, watching as the sun dipped below the horizon, his legs suspended off the side of a cliff. The gentle sound of his accordion filling Link with a rare sense of peace. He always felt the itch to do something more, to run across the land and find things, do something, protect someone, but for once he let himself enjoy the moment. The creation of Hyrule fresh in his mind distracted him from his racing thoughts. He wondered if the golden goddesses still meddled at all, or if they left the burden of Hyrule to Hylia (or Zelda). She was the goddess incarnate, was she not? Link now understood the weight that was always on her shoulders, although he wondered if he knew already in the before. There was a lot left to relearn, although it was unlikely that he would ever remember fully. 

With a sigh, Link stood up, turning to Kass with a slight smile. “ _Thank you for telling me_ ,” he signed, his hands moving slowly to allow Kass to understand. Rito sign language was much different than Hylian, but the feeling got across. Kass bowed, what looked like a smile flitting across his beak. 

“Anytime, Link. Don’t be afraid to ask me to relay what little ancient history I know.” 

_“I will likely come back, I might forget. Perhaps...”_ his hand paused in midair, as if he was scared to finish his though _t; “you could write it down for me sometime?”_

Kass shook his head, though his tone was gentle. “Unfortunately, not, Link. You know my rule, like the great bards from the before. But, I shall compose a song about it upon your return, perhaps that will help you to remember it better.” Link nodded. For whatever reason, he always remembered the words of Kass’ songs, they imprinted upon his brain like old memories. Perhaps he had heard them before, from the great Sheikah poet that Kass had learned from. 

“Do you...” Link used his voice, low and rusty from disuse, “know anything about the dragons?” He stopped, switching back to sign language quickly. “ _Were they in the before?_ ” For whatever reason, he instantly felt as if the goddesses were conflated with them. As if they had a relationship with the goddesses he couldn’t fathom. 

Kass gave a long moment to pause, and Link could see the gears in his brain moving through ancient memories. “Ah... once before in a time long before the first Calamity, dragons protected the land in times of strife. Though they went by a different name, and a different form than what you’d expect. They haven’t been seen since, though I’ve heard rumors about three of them returning to this land. Fire, ice, and lightning. Have you seen them, Link?” 

“Aye,” he stopped for a second, “ _I’ve collected their scales many a time_. _They never react, I wonder if they know that I need them._ ” 

A curious hum escaped from between Kass’ beak, and he just nodded slightly at the news. “Perhaps I shall try and remember further, the next time we meet I may have more details.” Link gave him a grin, patting him on the shoulder before slinging his sword across his back, whistling for his horse to return to him. The golden palomino mare let out a snort, her head raising from the grasses she was eating. Link just raised an eyebrow, and she came running over. Gracefully, he swung himself upon her back, waving while he steered her away. “May we meet again soon!” Kass called after him, as Link rode off into the plains. 

Kass left him much to think about, and the man ruminated in his thoughts as his horse trotted along the road. He wondered if the dragons returned after his awakening, or if they’ve been roaming the lands since the Great Calamity started. He remembered seeing Naydra for the first time, wounded and covered in blight, their shimmering scales tainted with blood and rotting malice. The goddess (Hylia? Nayru? Now he wasn’t sure) begged him to free the dragon from its binding, promising him the shrine of wisdom locked away (not that he had cared, Link wasn’t transactional). It was a tough fight, mostly spent gliding and shooting bulbous protrusions from the writhing dragons body. He lost a ton of arrows, but luckily the snow quill armor he wore kept him safe from the ice and cold. When the dragon was cleansed, it was like a spark lit in their eyes, burning cold and calculating, dispelling the malice and allowing their gleaming white scales to shimmer back to life. The icy crown they wore glowed a brilliant blue, matching their eyes and the pulsing lines spreading across their face. Link wasn’t sure he had ever seen anything more breathtaking in all his life ( _lives?_ ), and there was almost a whisper in the wind as he stared into the eyes of that dragon on the top of Mt. Lanayru. 

_“Thank you... brave knight...”_

It took off, leaving a glimmering scale behind in their wake. Gently, he picked it up, cold to the touch even through his thick gloves. Dropping it at the feet of the goddess led him to the shrine on the other side. She thanked him as well, though her voice was even fainter than the winds’. 

He’s seen Naydra since then, snaking through the sky, wandering their domain. It was every night at the same time, like a carefully conducted dance or a perfectly timed clock. Link had only approached it twice since then, shootings their thick hide to collect a scale or two to improve his armor. For whatever reason, he never felt guilty for it, as if it were a gift rather than something he was taking for his own. He knew by that point that it didn’t faze the dragon at all, the icy winds blowing from their body likelier to be of natural causes than self-defense. After every collection, the dragon would stare at him for a second before absconding back into the sky, as if asking him a question. He never heard them speak again though. All three of them were like that, indifferent, but calculating. They all would stare before heading back into the sky, going back into whatever world they came from. There was a bright intelligence in each of them, that spark of life that separated them from the beasts of the world. Link knew this for sure, they were smart, and they were far older than Hyrule itself. 

Carefully, Link approached Lake Hylia, crossing the bridge slowly. He had knocked out the lizalfos group that camped in the middle many a time, but the blood moon was two nights past and he hadn’t been in the area since. Like clockwork, the minute he stepped too close they jumped from their position. With ease and grace, Link dismounted from his horse, unsheathing his sword and making quick work of the small group of lizalfos. He dodged arrows, jumped over pikes, one or two blows from his sword enough to poof them into nonexistence. Small amounts of blood splattered onto his trousers, and he made a sharp sound with his mouth. “Tsk,” Link shook his head, making a note to return to his house in Hateno so he could do laundry (again), though he didn’t understand why he bothered with it anymore. Life on the road was full of stains, dirt and blood etched into his clothes, as well as his skin. Still, the ritual became familiar to him, made him feel like a person for a short amount of time, instead of some grand hero. He just wanted to feel human again, he wanted to forget the feel of his blade cutting through flesh. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a lightning strike cracking through the air, hitting the surface of Lake Hylia. Suddenly, there was a great eruption from beneath the water, and the dragon Farosh erupted from its depths. No matter how many times he saw the sight, awe still flashed across Link’s features. He could feel the electricity in the air, and swiftly he pulled out his bow, notching an arrow and waiting for the dragon to roam around the bridge as it always did. Instead however, the beast’s demeanor was somehow... different. Their eyes never left Link as they approached, and they slithered through the sky slowly and gently, as if trying to avoid sending off gusts of electricity. The wind still whipped through the air as the dragon neared ever closer, but thankfully the electric field around their body seemed to have been calmed. With a roar, Farosh curled towards the bridge, studying Link before landing with a loud crash on the edge of the bridge. The stone underneath his feet shook, and the man had to take a few steps back, his eyes wide as he stared at the enormous dragon looking down at him. 

“ _Ah... so you truly know of us now, young Link._ ” The voice resonated through his mind, sweet and loose, like a warm wind on a summer day. Confusion flashed across the hero’s bright blue eyes, the wild winds settling as the dragon seated itself on its perch. Its claws dug deep into the stone, as if it were butter, and its body loosely encircled Link as it wrapped itself around the bridge. He felt no fear of the creature, though he felt his hair rise from the sheer electricity of its presence. Farosh’s eyes glowed green and purple with a bright understanding, its great white mane flowing wildly in the breeze. Its long horn crackled with electricity as the being spoke, a low rumbling accompanying the sensation. “ _It is nice that at least one more hero of Hyrule will know us._ ”

Link was speechless (though that wasn’t unusual), and he was unsure of what to do. Did he run? No, he felt no evil from the being, just a strange humming of power coursing through it. A few minutes passed before he could organize his thoughts, and finally, he managed to speak. His voice was hoarse, but he was able to let out a few words. “Are you... Farore?” The dragon stared at him for a second before their great head nodded, the motion creating a breeze that wrapped around Link like a soft hug. “ _Have you always been here, like this, in Hyrule?_ ” He signed this time, unsure if he would be able to speak eloquently in the presence of the golden goddess. 

“Mmmm....” Farosh let a soft hum throughout the air, and Link felt a shiver rush through his body at the sound. “ _We have always been here, this form or not...._ ”

“ _I’ve... only ever felt the presence of Hylia..._ ” he stopped, hands dropping down to his sides, as if he was unsure what to say next. “ _Why reveal yourself to me now?_ ” 

“ _My child, anytime you feel the brush of the winds against your skin, that’s me, telling you to stay_ brave _. The heat of the sun on your face? That’s Din, telling you to keep_ strong _. The wash of cold water over your head as you swim? That’s Nayru, telling you to be_ wise _. We have always been here with you, dearest Link._ ” The dragon gave pause, their fierce green eyes studying Link with an intensity he couldn’t quite understand. “ _We may no longer be able to meddle in this world, but we are always here for Hyrule. Watching, waiting, pushing things in the right direction. Who do you think gave Hylia her power? Who do you think gave Zelda her strength? Hylia is one part of us, for we are all and none. Everything and nothing. We are everywhere, my dear, but also nowhere._ ”

Something about that rubbed Link the wrong way, and he frowned. “ _Why take this form? Why not help us directly? Why not seal the Calamity yourselves? The cycle you started? Why does it always fall to two youths to save your land for you?”_ There was anger in Link’s face as he signed, his motions rough and sharp. Seeing this, knowing that they took some kind of form in this world brought him confusion and anger; the two most mortal emotions in the goddesses’ eyes. He had every right to be angry at the gods, a pawn in their game of chess with Ganon. Farore knew this. 

“ _I don’t expect you to understand, young one, but the laws of this land prevent our direct intervention. We wait and see, push and pull, but no more can we control the strings. No more can we intervene with our own hands in this world. We left a terrible power behind upon our departure, and much had to be done to undo the thousands of years of damage its existence has caused. And it would be... selfish to put Hyrule in danger once more by entering fully. You’re right though, Demise, Calamity Ganon, he is proof of our failure. The fight over the triforce has been part of the bloody history of Hyrule, and it pains us so. We left it as a gift for our blessed people, and instead it becomes a tool for your destruction.”_

Link stayed silent and still for a few moments, so many thoughts rushing through his mind that he couldn’t bear to process them. He was still confused and angry, but the thrum of power he felt through the air calmed him. He wondered if Farore was using her power to settle his soul. Still, there seemed to be no fight for the triforce now, instead a need to destroy the kingdom that overthrew Ganon repeatedly. Revenge, that was the motivator this time. Every 10,000 years... so much history, so much time. Link briefly wondered how long the battle has lasted, truly, in the goddesses’ eyes, and how long it continues. “ _Even if... we defeat him now. He’s just going to come back in another form, isn’t he? The war he started will never end, will it?_ ” 

“ _Not for you to worry about child, not for you_. _The time will inevitably come, repeatedly, until this land is washed away forevermore. This is the endless struggle between good and evil, darkness and light, two sides of the same coin that cannot exist without the other. It has always been this way, since the chaos we sculpted the world from, and will remain so until the void envelops it once more. Do not ever think that we have abandoned you, we are always here for you, the both of you..._ ” Farosh (or Farore, he didn’t know what to call the beast anymore) stopped, their great head turning to look at the horizon. The sun was beginning to rise, a signal that it was time to leave. “ _We will not speak like this again child, for I fear I may not have the strength. Collect our scales, our fangs and claws, use them to grow stronger, smarter, braver. You’ll know when the time is right to unleash the magic within... don’t forget, Link. Don’t forget. We love this land very much,_ you and Zelda _very much. You’ll get the lifetime of rest you deserve when it is all over._ ”

With a great roar that shook the water beneath, the dragon lifted itself from its perch on the bridge and electricity sparked in the air as the beast began to rise. Link had to doge the bursts, flipping away quickly towards the other side of the bridge. “ _Take care, love..._ ” They circled around him, once, twice, before heading off into the sky. He watched as their body slithered away, the great golden greens illuminated by the rising sun. Just before the dragon ascended, it looked like its horns were piercing the sun as it rose. Glorious and mighty, the sight took his breath away. 

Link signed, briefly, to himself. “ _Thank you_.” 

He would make sure he never forgot, and once (just once), after the Calamity was over, he told Zelda about the story of the golden goddesses and the dragons that they took form in. How they didn’t dare abandon them in their time of need. How they loved them very much. How the cycle would continue on and on, for the rest of time. How they would always win, no matter what. 

“You never cease to amaze me,” she would say, “with how clearly you hear their voices.” Then together they would lay quiet in his little cottage in Hateno. 

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy!!!! 
> 
> I've had this theory for a while and wanted to write a fic about it. I've always thought about the purpose of the dragons in BOTW. Did they arise due to the great calamity? Or were they triggered by Link's awakening? 
> 
> I know that historical the goddesses have sent dragons and spirits to protect the land instead of doing it themselves, but my idea is that they're the golden goddesses in the only forms they can take now. The only way they can aid Link is through the collection of their parts, but the deemed the danger of Calamity Ganon to be too great for him to face alone. They are not actually physical representations per-say, instead avatars they can use and control if need be. Before they could have been normal dragons that they took over once the Calamity began. It's not super fleshed out but I think it'd be kind of cool to have them have a bit more of a direct influence in the game, like Hylia. 
> 
> I also like the idea of all of the gods under their rule being just a facet of them, an expansion that allows them to compartmentalize their power. However, that's just based on my own view on religion so!!!


End file.
